Prince Fielder barrels around third on his way to score in the fourth inning on a single by Kevin Kouzmanoff. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Eric Sogard returns to the dugout to high fives from teammates after scoring in the second inning. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Alberto Callaspo, right, high fives Brandon Moss, left, after Moss hit a homerun in the bottom of the second inning. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Josh Reddick, left, high fives Eric Sogard, right, after they both scored on a Coco Crisp single in the bottom of the second inning. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Coco Crisp steals second in the first inning. The Oakland Athletics...

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Brandon Moss reunites with Terry Francona in Cleveland.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Brandon Moss reunites with Terry Francona in Cleveland.

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Brandon Moss is the third All-Star position player traded by the A’s since the end of July.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Brandon Moss is the third All-Star position player traded by the...

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Branond Moss rounds the bases after hitting a solo homerun in the bottom of the second inning. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Shin-Soo Choo is congratulated by teammates as he returns to the dugout after hitting a solo homerun in the first inning. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Shin Soo Choo rounds the bases after hitting a solo homerun in the first inning off Dan Straily, right. The Oakland Athletics played the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 21, 2014.

Yu Darvish is one of the few starters who doesn't much enjoy working at the Coliseum. The Rangers' right-hander has had some rough outings in Oakland, which is considered a pitchers' park.

The A's tried numerous times to ratchet up the score on Monday night against Darvish, their norm against him. Yet they failed to take advantage of all their chances in a 4-3 loss to their division rivals. Oakland stranded 11 runners, including six in scoring position.

In three of the first four innings, the A's left men at third base against Darvish, who entered the night 1-6 lifetime against Oakland and with an ERA of nearly 10.00 at the Coliseum.

"He's a good pitcher right there, he (bore) down on us a little bit," Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson said. "The guy is good. He's not just your run-of-the-mill guy."

Texas took advantage of having a leadoff man in scoring position in the eighth. Kevin Kouzmanoff doubled off Sean Doolittle (0-1), went to third on a sacrifice by Mitch Moreland and scored on Donnie Murphy's single past a drawn-in infield. The A's bullpen has been charged with four of the team's six losses.

Brandon Moss made Darvish remember how little he likes the Coliseum early in the game, hitting the first pitch of the second inning out to right. Moss has three homers in 18 at-bats against Darvish.

The A's added two more runs that inning. Josh Reddick walked with one out, Eric Sogard doubled with two outs and Coco Crisp singled in both of them.

The next inning, the A's had two on and no outs, but Darvish got Moss to ground out, he struck out Alberto Callaspo and got Reddick to fly out.

"We had him on the ropes again in the second and third and he makes a good pitch to Callaspo and gets it by him," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "If he gets the bat on it, it might be a different game."

In the fourth, the A's loaded the bases with two outs but Darvish struck out Donaldson. In a game in September, Darvish yelled "fastball" at Donaldson before throwing him a curveball, and though Donaldson was untroubled by that, Crisp erupted from the top step of the dugout, taking Darvish to task for the breach of baseball etiquette.

Crisp reached base all four times he faced Darvish on Monday. Crisp also made a terrific catch in center in the seventh, with a leaping, backhand stab for a liner in the gap by Elvis Andrus. Crisp came down hard on his ribcage one inning earlier going after a drive by Leonys Martin but stayed in the game; Melvin said the team will re-evaluate Crisp on Tuesday.

A's starter Dan Straily went five innings and allowed six hits, two walks and three runs, and struck out six. Shin-Soo Choo homered to lead off the game, Prince Fielder doubled and scored on a base hit by Kouzmanoff in the fourth, and Texas collected three straight two-out hits off Straily to tie the game in the fifth.

"My first pitch command was terrible tonight," Straily said.

Yoenis Céspedes was not in the starting lineup because of a bruised heel, but hit for Moss against lefty Neal Cotts in the seventh with a runner on and just missed a homer, flying to the wall in center. Off the bat, Melvin said, he thought it was gone.

"We've played very many games similar to that with them over the years," Melvin said. His team went 10-9 against Texas last year.